A teenage fugitive was caught Thursday days after a broad-daylight shooting that killed an innocent, walker-using 69-year-old grandmother as he allegedly fired 15 rounds from a machine gun, authorities said.
Faisil McCants, 18, was picked up by the feds and the NYPD in connection to the 12:25 p.m. Aug. 27 shooting of Robin Wright – who was struck in the face and killed by a straw bullet at East 110th Street and Madison Avenue, the sources said.
The teen was nabbed when Homeland Security Investigations, the NYPD’s Violent Gang Task Force and 23rd Precinct Squad, as well as the US Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force closed in on him in connection to the senseless violence – which authorities said stemmed from a botched weed robbery from a drug dealer.
He was charged with one count of Hobbs Act robbery – which alone could land him in prison for 20 years if convicted – as well possession of a machine gun, which carries a sentence of 30 years to life behind bars, according to the feds.
“As a result of this defendant’s allegedly ruthless and utterly reckless violence, an innocent victim was gunned down in broad daylight while simply going about her daily life,” HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel said in a statement. “New Yorkers deserve better—full stop.”
The gunfire erupted a short time after the teen shooter and another still-at-large menace got into a dust-up with a drug dealer and snatched backpacks holding marijuana that he’d been carrying at East 109th Street and Madison Avenue, according to authorities and sources.
As McCants fled the scene – heading north on Madison Avenue and turning onto East 110th Street – he allegedly pulled a black machine gun out of his sweatshirt pocket and unloaded 15 rounds in the direction of his target, authorities said.
Instead of striking the dealer, the stray gunfire hit Wright, who was standing with a walker at the northwest corner of East 110th Street and Madison Avenue, the feds said.
Wright was rushed to Mount Sinai Morningside, where she tragically succumbed to her injuries.
Wright’s neighbor, Sonya Hampton, previously told The Post she was with the ailing victim on the ground as she took her last breath.
“I was just coming from the store and I heard the gunshots,” Hampton said. “I turned around to see where the bullets landed and she was on the floor.”
Wright often took walks as exercise to help with her recovery after a recent surgery on the veins in her legs, according to her friends and neighbors.
“She was looking for [her] grandson to walk with her, to go get lunch,” said Juanita Arnold, a friend who was with Wright when she was fatally struck. “She wanted some exercise. She was rehabilitating herself and getting strength back in her legs so I asked what she wanted to do.
“I will walk with you to go get your lunch. And that’s what we did. She never made it back but I did.”
Arnold added that she “just stood right there and watched my friend while she died.”
“Because she wanted lunch and couldn’t make it back?” Arnold said. “This was not necessary. That lady should’ve never died like that.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said justice was served by the alleged gunman’s arrest.
“Removing illegal firearms from our streets remains at the forefront of the NYPD’s public safety mission, and we will continue to ensure that those who carry them are held accountable,” Tisch said.
McCants has an extensive criminal history dating back to when he was a minor – including an attempted murder arrest for a non-fatal shooting back in March of 2023, sources said.
The disposition of that case was not immediately known.
He is also a suspect in more than a half-dozen non-fatal shootings and robberies dating back to 2023, according to the sources.
The teen gunman’s arrest came a day after five young suspects – all but one of them teens – were charged with murder in a Labor Day drive-by shooting that killed a man and injured four others outside a known weed spot in the Bronx, cops and sources said.
“We’re seeing shooters becoming younger and younger,” Mayor Eric Adams said on FOX 5’s Good Day New York Wednesday morning. “We’re seeing the direct results of some of the laws that we have passed – some of the actions, both in Albany and in the City Council.”